County Down
One of Ireland's most fertile counties, Down is notable for its low, beautifully cultivated hills. Its shorelines run from the Flat Ards Peninsula taking in Strangford Lough, to the beautiful Mountains of Mourne. The county boasts many important historic sites and ancient monuments, together with a wealth of attractions for the sporting enthusiast, the walker and especially the sightseer. Down also incorporates the section of Belfast that lies east of the River Lagan.
Saint Patrick arrived in Strangford Lough in 432 and died in the area in 461. To this day the whereabouts of his remains are disputed, with some preferring to believe his final resting place is actually in Armagh. By the time of his death, Saint Patrick had succeeded in his crusade to convert Ulster to Christianity which in turn elevated him to the exalted status of a national hero. In his wake, Irish monasteries flourished and repeated attacks by the Vikings were dismissed.
It was eventually the Normans who ousted the Irish Monks and who then set about building Grey Abbey on the Ards Peninsula. Inch Abbey near Downpatrick was also constructed around this time. Castles it would appear though, were their main priority and many still survive to this day along the coast. During the period of the Plantations, Scottish and English settlers were given large sections of land previously occupied by the native Irish. These settlers were responsible for the development of the linen industry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and also saw to the building of local towns and roads.
The coast of Down is Northern Ireland's secret treasure. An immensely varied area only moments from Belfast where you can quickly reach idyllic isolation in a holiday cottage in the Slieve Croob hills or be at the heart of the busiest nightlife, in bustling Bangor...
The towns of Bangor, Hollywood, Ardglass, Newcastle and Portaferry are typical of the now-modern Victorian seaside resorts. Newry in the south of the County is probably the busiest border crossing to Southern Ireland and is therefore a bustling trading town. The mountains of Mourne, which truly, in Percy French's words, "sweep down to the sea", are a very popular area for tourists.
